Enlightenment Seminar

Professor Hartman welcomes two graduate students into his study for the first
meeting of an advanced seminar on communication theory.

After introducing Sarah and Arthur to one another, he invites them to be seated
in two comfortable Barcaloungers.

Turning the lights down low, he sits down in another lounge chair which faces
them, and takes a deep breath.

Then, instead of speaking immediately, he allows a relaxed silence to ensue.

In response to this relaxed silence, Arthur stretches back in his Barcalounger,
takes a deep breath, and says: ďThis is good.Ē

After a brief moment of reflection, Professor Hartman looks up at Arthur and
asks, ďWhy do you say that?Ē

The conversation then proceeds as follows:

A. Itís just a feeling

H. Just a feeling?

A. Yeah. I wasnít really thinking when I said that. I was just expressing a
spontaneous feeling.

H. And how are you feeling at this moment, Sarah?

S. Well, I think that Arthur is just trying to please you.

H. And how does that make you feel?

S. Competitive.

H. Arthur, what do you think about that?

A. Iím surprised. I wasnít trying to please you when I said that. I was just
expressing my spontaneous feeling.

H. So how are you feeling toward Sarah at this moment?

A. I feel that I am being projectively misperceived by her. I can understand her
competitive feeling toward me, because our whole educational system is designed
to encourage students to compete with one another. But I donít really feel
competitive toward Sarah. I would prefer to think of her as a friend rather than
an enemy or an adversary. And thatís part of what I meant when I said: ďThis is
good.Ē

H. So what exactly did you mean?

A. I meant that I felt you were creating a relaxed atmosphere in which we could
cooperate with one another as friends rather than compete with one another as
adversaries.

H. And what is your response to that, Sarah?

S. Iím so surprised that I donít know what to think. Itís such a relief, to meet
someone who isnít competitive! I feel like apologizing to Arthur and asking him
to forgive me.

A. I gladly accept your apology, Sarah, and not only do I forgive you, but I
wholeheartedly invite you to be my friend.

S. Thank you, Arthur. I wholeheartedly accept your invitation.

H. And how are you feeling now, Sarah?

S. Well, Iím feeling a tremendous sense of relief. I feel like Iíve just gone
through a process of psychotherapy and have been liberated from some kind of
prison!

H. That, indeed, is what life is all about. First, we learn how to imprison
ourselves with judgments, and then we learn how to liberate ourselves from our
self-imposed prisons through forgiveness.

A. Well, now I feel like this is better than good, because this is great!

H. Why is that?

A. Because I experience that youíre relating to us like a true educator rather
than a pedantic instructor.

H. And what is the difference as you experience it?

A. Well, I experience that it makes all the difference in the world. Instructors
are teachers who pound information into their students, whereas educators are
teachers who draw information out of their students. And I can see already that
you have a real talent for drawing us out.

H. In that case, Iíd like to make the most of this opportunity by drawing you
out even further.

A. Please do!

H. When I asked you why you said, ďThis is goodĒ, you replied that you werenít
really thinking but that you were just expressing a spontaneous feeling.

A. Thatís right.

H. So now Iíd like to invite you to share with us what the general relationship
is between your thoughts and your feelings as your experience it.

A. Very different from what it used to be.

H. How is that?

A. Before my psychoanalytic therapy with Dr. Theodor Reik, my thoughts and my
feelings were at war with one another, because I was using my thoughts to
suppress my feelings without realizing what I was doing.

H. I understand.

A. Then, during the course of my therapy, my personality went through a profound
process of radical reorganization, and I gradually learned how to place my
thoughts in the service of my feelings rather than misusing my thoughts to
suppress my feelings.

H. How did that happen?

A. Well, I began to understand that Reik not only trusted his feelings but
allowed his feelings to guide his thoughts. So it was essentially a process of
learning from his example.

A. Yeah, it was a revolutionary transformation. So now my thoughts and my
feelings are no longer at war with one another.

H. Sarah, what are your thoughts and feelings about all of this?

S. I think my thoughts and feelings are still at war with one another. The idea
of allowing my feelings to guide my thoughts seems like a very radical idea to
me. So I guess I still have a lot to learn about trusting my feelings.

A. So we all have logical thoughts as our masculine principle, and intuitive
feelings as our feminine principle, regardless of whether we are male or female.

H. Right you are.

A. Now, itís a well-known fact that most men tend to rely more on their logical
thoughts and that most women tend to rely more on their intuitive feelings.

H. Quite so.

A. But the important thing to see is that all of us need both our logical
thoughts and our intuitive feelings in order to function effectively.

H. Would you agree with that, Sarah?

S. Yes. I can see the truth of what Arthur is saying.

A. So the essential thing to realize is that, just as the male gender and the
female gender are complements rather than opposites, so logical thoughts and
intuitive feelings are complements rather than opposites.

H. We could even go so far as to say that enlightenment begins when we arrive at
the point of realizing that what may at first appear to be polar opposites
are actually polar complements.

S. Yes, I see what you mean.

A. Consequently, the final thing to understand is that unless we make the
enlightened choice to place our masculine principle in the service of our
feminine principle so that our intuitive feelings can guide our logical
thoughts, the only alternative is war, because our masculine principle will tend
to subjugate our feminine principle and our logical thoughts will then be used
to suppress our intuitive feelings.

S. That all makes sense, but I still donít see how I can trust my emotions.

A. Once you make a clear distinction between the negative judgmental emotions of
fear, anger, grievance, and guilt which characterize your second chakra, and the
positive intuitive feelings of love, joy, enthusiasm, and gratitude which
characterize your fourth chakra, you will then be in a position to discover that
the positive intuitive feelings of your heart chakra are trustworthy.